Kindred's Origins
by Scizor021
Summary: A story i wrote about the origins of the Kindred. This is my own personal take on it, and I know its pretty far from what Riot had it, but i like it. This is my first story, and for some reason i felt like I couldn't get the ending *Just Right*. I have a feeling similar stuff has been done before, but this is my take on it. Enjoy :) (All characters are owned by Riot Games.)
"Tell me again, little Lamb, which things are ours to take?"

"All things, dear Wolf."

Arrows rain down upon the beach, slaying innocent civilians. Boats of Noxian soldiers landed upon the beaches, charging towards a small port town by the dozen. Noxians, in their silver, blood red armor, without hesitation, began to cut down all those around them, male or female, old or young, seemingly without reason. Alarm bells began to sound off from the central church, signaling they were being invaded, as panic began to ensure. Following in a boat behind the soldiers, a Noxian general barked orders, all following the same patterns of "leave no survivors" and "take everything valuable!" Scrambling to deal with the threat, villagers gathered what little weapons they had, mainly tridents, spears, and knives. Watching the villagers cowering back to back in a crude attempt to stop them, the Noxian soldiers began laughing at the men's attempt to stop them. One of them stopped laughing, and one swift flowing movement, launched a knife, planting itself square in the forehead of one of the resistance. He crumpled immediately, as the other villagers watched his life force flow out of him onto the dirt road. With their eyes being white as the snow of the mountaintops in the distance, they dropped what weapons they had and made a break for their homes, in an attempt to flee with their lives and families. One in particular, Richard, managed to outrun the Noxian force in their heavy armor. As he burst into the door, one could hear the screams in the background, and almost feel the heat of the burning town. Seeing his wife and daughter cowering in the corner, he picked up his child, Pheobe, and grabbed his wifes hand and made a break for the door, only to be blocked by a man with a large, devious grin. Without a word, he chuckles and slams the door and can hear it being wedged from the outside. Thinking quickly, he takes his daughter and pulls back the rug from the side of the room, below the kitchen. Beneath, there is a small iron and wooden storage box, made for refrigeration without power. Feeling the room heating up immensely, he tears everything out of the box, mainly ice, water, bottles of milk, and leftover meats. Quickly, he places Pheobe inside the box and with a tear in his eye; he places the cover back and as he begins to black out from the smoke, he remembers what is going on right now, back on the mainland.

 **Death leaves a heartache that no one can heal, love leaves a memory that no one can steal. - Unknown**

This story takes, late into the Ionian war. With great pressure from the world looking onto the match between Ionia and Noxus, its gaze had been temporarily averted from the island of Ionia itself to the battlefields of the league. Seizing the moment and realizing the possible defeat, Noxus generals receive a final order, "Take what you can, leave no witnesses." As such, the entire southern coast of Ionia was being attacked at once, one last time before Noxus will willingly give up what they thought of as theirs. As the final moments arrived, commands were given to fall ball with whatever war loot had been stolen, before the Summoners would look back at the island. In their wake, was left a true sight of horror. Dozens of small port cities were left in utter destruction, with thousands dead. Within one, a single girl crying could be heard beneath the rubble, and that is where the true story begins.

 **To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure. – J.K. Rowling**

Smoke, ash, bones, and destruction. That is all Pheobe was able to see upon pushing up on the board, hours after the last signs of life had vanished. Tossing aside the piece of wood, Pheobe looked around at what remained of her village. Ash and soot was all that remained, pieces of it floating down from the sky like a rain of death. It was then that it hit her, like a punch, square to the chest she stumbled backwards, falling into a pile of white soot. It poofed out, giving her a white coating of ash, and she began to wail. To her, it felt like her chest was about to explode, her heart felt like it was about to collapse, and she cried. She cried for hours, until the sun went down, at which point, she had no more tears to give. She felt her stomach begin to cramp up, from a long, hard day and a lack of food. Looking around, it was clear that there was no edible food left within the limits of the village. So with a heavy heart, and a throbbing head, she set out northward, in hopes that she could find someone, anyone who could help her. As she walked towards the woods, all she was doing, is offering a silent prayer of "please… don't let me die."

" **To die will be an awfully big adventure." ―** **J.M. Barrie**

A cool crisp air wafted through the woods. Guided by moonlight, Pheobe saw monsters wherever she looked. "Keep it together" she whispered to herself, "monsters arent real… there is nothing here… i am safe." However, she knew that this was only to try and help her move forward, to calm her fears. Her stomach rumbled and she clenched it with both arms, feeling sharp hunger pains crawl up through her body. Looking around, almost as if by miracle, she saw a single tree, covered in moonlight, with a silver fruit glowing on it. She slowly walked up to it, and her stomach cramped again. Having never seen a tree like this before, she slowly reached up and took a piece of the fruit off. She smelled it, and to her, it smelled sweet. It glistened in the moonlight, and while everything in her mind was screaming that this isnt right, and that there is something wrong here, her stomach said otherwise, being both dehydrated and hungry, she took a bite of the fruit. Inside, the fruit bled a golden liquid, down her arm and across her lips. It was extremely sweet, and after the first bite, feeling no ill side effects, she finished the fruit, all but its core, which she reburied in the ground beneath her feet. Feeling tired, and her stomach somewhat full, she climbed up the tree, and found a place within the branches to sleep. Feeling safe within the moonlight, she peacefully fell asleep.

 **Life is for the living.**

 **Death is for the dead.**

 **Let life be like music.**

 **And death a note unsaid. - Langston Hughes**

Waking up, Pheobe immediately felt something was off. Her limbs were incredibly sore, and she had a massive headache. Lying there for what seemed like hours, she mustered the strength to flip herself over and in return, fell straight out of the tree onto the ground. She let out a groan, silently cursing herself for eating from a completely unknown tree, without having any idea what would happen. Forcing herself to stand, she looks at her body. Covered in bruises, blood, and the remains of white soot, she looked like nothing less than a ghost. Muttering to herself, but being grateful she was alive, she began walking farther into the woods, thanking the tree for supporting her, and moving on. Time passes, and while walking through the underbrush, she hears a river not far off. Sprinting towards it, she trips on a root and falls forwards, off the bank and down the sand into the water. Reactively grabbing her foot, she looks at it just to realize that nothing actually happened, there is no markings, or scrapes, or even a bruise from it. Splashing water from the river washing the soot off as well as the blood, she finds on her skin, there is not a single cut anywhere, and the bruises she had seem to be healing extremely fast. Startled by this discovery, she jumps into the river, washing away all of the dirt, blood, and soot that had accumulated on her. In fact, to her, the river almost seemed, calm, and tranquil. Relaxing, she can hear…. Nothing. Once she realizes this, she sits up and looks around. She can see birds flying around, and she can see other animals, but outside the river, or the trees rustling, she can't hear any of them. Leaning back in the water, she reflects on what she has run into so far, and how little of it makes sense to her… Her village got pillaged by Noxus in one day, she survived the fire by her parents sacrifice, (she begins tearing up a bit more here), starving in the woods, and finding a… magical… tree out of nowhere. None of it made sense, and it all seemed so, rushed to her. Her entire world had been turned upside down… It's almost as if her life, all to this point, almost wasn't real though. Her mind kept running back to one thing, the man who had trapped them and set the house on fire. What could make a man, so evil as to gleefully take the lives of others, and for that matter, what gives someone the right to choose something like that. Death is supposed to be reserved, only taken at the end of one's life, after one had life a full life. Slowly, with all these thoughts running through her head, Pheobe lifted her legs and let the river carry her away, to the sounds of trees and water.

" **That's what fiction is for. It's for getting at the truth when the truth isn't sufficient for the truth." ―** **Tim O'Brien**

Hours passed while Pheobe floated down the river, contemplating life, in its many questions. The biggest, and most pressing to her, was what did that trees fruit exactly do to her? Eventually, when the river reached a rapids, she sat back up and climbed out of the water. Not feeling hungry, and with dusk coming soon she set out again, into the woods, completely without direction. Just to simply wander. Days pass, and Pheobe finds herself nearing the eastern coast of the island. Not having felt hungry or tired in that entire time, she had noticed her body go through changes, all of which she attributed to the magical tree. In addition to lack of tiredness or hunger, at night, different places along her body, in curvey lines, begin to glow very faintly at night. In addition, her hair has begun to change to a ghostly white color, seemingly untainted by the world. Back on the cliffside, Pheobe wanders northwards, eventually coming upon a small wooden home. Not having seen anyone for days, she knocks and eventually an old man answers the door. He looks around, "Hi, im Pheobe, and ive been stuck in th…." "Hello?" The old man said, as he looks around, not seeing anyone. "Im right here..." Pheobe says, with a sudden realization, that he couldn't see or hear her. The man slowly turned around and walked back inside, shutting the door, but not before Pheobe ducked in behind the door. The old man walked back to a table, and began reading a paper he had. Pheobe once again scared, and now confused and worried, sat down on a chair in a separate room, leaving an imprint of her sitting there. Wrapping her face in her hands, she comes to the realization… she is dead. At least that's the closest thing she could describe it as, unable to interact with the living, but still part of this world, its as if she is stuck here, unable to pass on to the afterlife. Her mind keeps racing back to the tree, what it must have done to her, and why she must be here. One detail remains in her mind, the tree was cloaked in moonlight, so this must be magic right? Maybe, she thinks, that if she can find someone chosen by the moon, they could help her, or at least give her answers. Standing back up, Pheobe knew what she had to do, she had to find Diana. Standing back up with renewed vigor, she ran from the room out into the world once again to find her answers.

 **The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination. - Albert Einstein**

About a month later, three ships, and countless miles of walking, Pheobe arrives at the grand building for the League of Legends. People are everywhere, mainly swarming around the few champions around. Some of them seem to be loving it, such as Draven, while many seem to try to avoid all the sight they can. Due to not being seen by anyone, Pheobe finds it very easily to walk forward past the crowd into the main building, completely being ignored by the security. Inside, she slowly takes in the view she is seeing. The grand hall around her is filled with golden statues and pillars stretching dozens of feet into the air. There are memorials along the walls dedicated to all those lost in the league matches, as well as those honoring the fighters outside of the arena. There are a few dedicated to the most decisive of matches, with the most recent being Ionia reclaiming the southern provinces from Noxus.

Wandering down hallways and sneaking past doors, Pheobe slowly finds her way to the female housing zone. She notices the likes of Lux and Tristana walking around, and by following them, finds the hallway with a portal ring to each champions housing. After finding Diana's she cautiously walks through, just to be greeted immediately by a large oaken door. She gently knocks upon it and waits patiently, after a moment the door opens, revealing Diana, wearing her silver and black armor, a large scythe like weapon strapped to her back. Immediately being nervous, she manages to squeak out...". Hi, i, im um, Pheobe, can you hear me?" Diana, looking down at her raises an eyebrow "yes, should i not, And how did you even get in here?" "I um, well… i NEED YOUR HELP" as Pheobe lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Diana's waist and clinging on her. Diana, clearly startled, backs up "woah, ok, hold on a second" putting her arms on Pheobe's shoulders to peel her off. "NO, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. THE MOON DID THIS!" Upon hearing that, Diana let go almost immediately, "did what?" "I ate from a tree bathed in moonlight, and now you are the only person i have talked to in a month and a half! Nobody else can hear me, or see me. PLEASE, help me!" Pheobe said, almost crying as she said it. "Calm down" Diana said as she tried to calm her down. "Can we talk this out, or something, i cannot help you with you hanging on me like this." Pheobe nodded, and let go, wiping a tear from her eye as she walked over and sat down. Diana's room appeared to be be that of an observatory, with different relics and star maps placed about. Diana sat down opposite her on the table, "now, tell me slowly, what exactly happened, from the beginning." Pheobe nodded, and slowly began to explain everything to her, that had happened up to this point. Diana remained expressionless, if not extremely interested in the girl's story. When it ended upon Pheobe arriving at Diana's door, Diana sat up. "Well, that is quite the story, i will report Noxus for the atrocities they committed, and i will be sure to not let them get away with that." "But what about meeeee?" Pheobe asked. Diana sat and thought, "well, come with me, i will help with what i can." Leading her outside, onto an observatory balcony, Diana took the girl's shoulder. "When you prayed for help, your prayer did not go unheard, the moon answered you, but it answered you in such a way that it gave you a way to help yourself. You will not always be like this, rather, the god of the moon is giving you time to learn, and think, and discover more about yourself before you will be released from this. Think of it as a metamorphoses, your body has already begun to change, as well as your thoughts and feelings. There is one act, or thought, or understanding the moon is looking for, after which it will finish what has started." "But what is that?" Pheobe asked. "I don't know" Diana replied "but, i don't think your answer is here. If you need someone to speak to, look inside, until the day you understand, i cannot speak with you more, goodbye Pheobe." Pheobe's body began to glow from her bioluminescent lines, brighter and brighter, until the next thing she knew, she was awake in a clearing, in the forest near where the silver tree originally was. However, where the tree was, is now a tree, made of solid crystal, glowing in the moonlight…

" **Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"**

 **"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to."**

 **"I don't much care where –"**

 **"Then it doesn't matter which way you go."**

― **Lewis Carroll**

Echos of Diana's words rang throughout Pheobe's mind as she circled about the tree. The tree itself looked familiar, the fork in the branches where she slept, even the indent in the ground from where she fell. Being, completely confused, she took a seat in the dirt, staring at the tree. Muttering to herself "well, i suppose i need to figure out what the moon wants me to figure out… whatever that is." As she sat there, Pheobe felt the world around her slowly disappear, as she began to relax, and think.

...Months pass...

" **There comes a time when the world gets quiet and the only thing left is your own heart. So you'd better learn the sound of it. Otherwise you'll never understand what it's saying." ― Sarah Dessen**

"WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME!" Pheobe screams as she lands her fists into the crystal tree to no avail. "WHY! WHY WON'T YOU ANSWER ME!" She screams as she slowly collapses into the tree, now completely crying her eyes out. "It's been so, so long since i have talked to anyone, i'm so alone here. Why…. what is the point behind this, I really don't know what you want." She falls on the ground, weeping. "I've been across the whole continent, and i don't know what you want." She sits back up, tears streaming across her face. "If.. *sniffle* if you don't tell me what you want, i'll leave you. You don't control me. I am free, you need me, i don't need you." She said, trying to reassure herself. Looking at the blank crystal tree, Pheobe made a decision, she would move on, whether or not the moon let her. Picking herself up for the last time, she walked up to the crystal tree, breaking off one of the pointed branches. Positioning it above her heart, she readied herself. Her life flashed before her eyes, her growing up in a fisherman's house, helping her mother in the kitchen, following her father out fishing on early mornings to catch the food for that day, being alone all those days in her school, Noxus having invaded Ionia years earlier, Noxus burning down her home and her parents sacrificing themselves, finding Diana to hopefully get some answers, and spending months alone, in solitude. As she pulled the crystal towards herself drawing blood, she stopped. This was it, this is what she was trying to be shown, at life's worst moments, at ones where it feels like there is no way out, that is when one is most beautiful. When all the layers have been stripped away, and all that is left is one's core self. As she realizes this, the crystal slowly rolls out of her hands onto the ground, and she falls backwards. She realizes more and more, that no matter one's life is like, they are still them, as beautiful as they were during the good times. As such, no matter one's circumstances, one should always live life to the fullest, it should never be wasted… This also means that those, who would dare take the life of others, such as the Noxian man, they are both ending someone else's beauty, but destroying their own.

Upon realizing this, Pheobe looks into the crystal tree, and sees not only herself, but in the prism created by it, another figure. This figure is dark, menacing, one that is to be feared, but Pheobe didn't fear him, because she understood. That was her before she understood, this was the her that was about to end her own life, one who ends their own beauty. But within the crystal is her own image, bright, shining as if one has just renewed their understanding of the meaning of living. In front of her, the crystal began to shimmer, as she felt her body morph one last time, into the Lamb that we all know, from a mirror image in the crystal, Wolf appeared. She felt like she finally understood what she was being told to do. Her job now, was to be with those who are living life to the fullest, to preserve their beauty, but to end the ones of corrupted beauty, ones who would destroy others. Picking herself up one last time, she set off into the woods. "Come Wolf, there is more to learn, see, and protect."

" **The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." ― J.K. Rowling**


End file.
